Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Hedge fund flows turned negative in March to the tune of $12.4bn, but flows for the quarter were still positive $7.6bn and total industry AUM reached $2.664tn. Fund of funds flows were highly negative again in Q1, continuing to draft on overall hedge fund flows, according to the latest asset flows report from eVestment.

Investors continued to pile into credit strategies, making it the only market segment with positive investor flow in March. However, MBS focused funds, the earliest group to benefit from investor interest in securitized credit, are beginning to see disruptions in their once steady stream of investor interest. "After a seven month span of consistent positive flows
ending November 2012, during which MBS focused funds took
in an estimated $6.1 billion, the group has seen outflows in
three of the last four months. Despite having net positive
investor flow during this time frame, it is of interest that the
group’s flows are no longer universally positive," writes Peter Laurelli, Director of Research, eVestment in the report.

Investors again were net redeemers of assets from directional equity strategies in March. Q1 marked the seventh consecutive quarter of redemptions from equity strategies, matching the duration of outflows the group endured during/after the financial crisis.

Redemptions in managed futures funds continued as well, with those funds showing redemptions in Q1 2013 were the largest since Q1 in 2009. Thi......................